Tejal Somvanshi
The Joe Biden administration will cancel student loans for another 160,000 people through a combination of different programs. The Department of Education announced the latest round of cancellations on Wednesday, stating it would forgive $7.7 billion in federal student loans. With this measure, the administration said it had already canceled $167 billion in student debt for nearly 5 million Americans through various programs.
“From day one of my administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “And I will never stop working to cancel debt, despite Republican officials‘ attempts to stop us.”
The new round would assist people in three categories who meet certain eligibility requirements for cancellation. It will include 54,000 people enrolled in Biden’s new income-driven repayment plan, 39,000 enrolled in previous income-driven plans, and about 67,000 who qualify through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Biden’s new plan, known by its acronym SAVE, offers a faster path to loan forgiveness than previous versions. More people can now apply for loan forgiveness after making 10 years of payments, a new goal that advances the requirements by 10 years for applicants.
The cancellation proceeded despite facing legal challenges from states with Republican governments. A group of 11 states led by Kansas sued to block the program in March, followed by another seven states led by Missouri in April. In two federal lawsuits, the states argue that Biden needed to go through Congress to reform federal plans.
Similar Posts
Another initiative by the Biden administration aims to correct previous errors that delayed debt cancellation for some people enrolled in other repayment plans and through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which forgives debts for people who have made 10 years of payments and work as public servants.
The announcement comes after the failure of a broader effort to reduce student debt. The Supreme Court rejected a debt relief plan by Biden last year, which aimed to eliminate up to $20,000 in student debt for 43 million people.
The total number of people who have benefited from debt forgiveness actions amounts to 4.75 million, according to the Department of Education. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement on Wednesday that the administration “remains persistent” in its efforts “to bring student debt relief to millions more across the country, and this announcement proves it.”
